Hello everyone. Today I brewed the La Petite orange. I used the Wyeast 1214. I read a few minutes ago that its common to do a yeast starter with this type of beer. I did not do that and it didnt say to do that in the instructions. Would the beer possibly be better if I had done that?
Thanks
Don’t sweat it. Some people will say you need it, others will say you don’t. I have made this recipe 4 times. Never did a yeast starter for for any of them. Each was good.
The La Petite Orange has an OG of 1.052. Your pitch rate may be okay with one pack of WY 1214 unless it was very old. I always consult a pitch rate/starter calculator for peace of mind. This is the one I like to use because it seems to have a reliable cell viability calculator.
Petite Orange is a regular in my rotation. It’s a VERY forgiving recipe. No matter how you screw it up, it turns out enjoyable.
Thanks for the replies everyone. I appreciate it. The yeast is only a month old and has been the fridge the entire time. Seemed fine to me so I pitched as normal.
Ill post the results in 6 weeks or so 
I just transferred this to secondary yesterday. I just pitched the dry yeast on top, and haven’t used a starter yet. Took about 24 hours then had a pretty aggressive initial fermentation. Krausen starting creeping up the neck of the carboy so I used a blow off hose to control the possible mess. Never had any in the hose though. After a few days the fermentation slowed and the krausen settled back down. Left it in the primary for just over 2 weeks. The gravity reading at transfer was about 1.006 maybe slightly less, and had started with the OG at 1.052. The color was good and it tasted good. After 1 day in the secondary I am not getting any bubbling in the airlock and its cleaning up good. Can’t wait to bottle this.
Nice! It hasnt quite been 24 hours for me yet but Im not seeing any action. I expect that I will tonight though after work.
Uh oh… Still no bubbles. First time using a bucket fermentor but the top seems to be pretty tight. Hopefully I didnt mess something up with the yeast.
The yeast wasnt dry. It was in the fridge for about a month. I warmed it up to about 70 degrees in warm water while boiling the wort.
Maybe its just slow?
Open the top and look. It won’t kill anything.
You can also shine a flashlight directly on the lid. If the room’s fairly dark, you should be able to see a krausen ring.
Just checked by opening the lid. Looks like the very slightest bit of a krausen ring forming. First time its taken a while for the yeast to go crazy. Maybe im just being impatient. Its close to 48 hours but not quite there yet
Slower indeed but I wouldn’t worry until 72hrs.
Quick update… I am starting to see bubbles now and the krausen is looking proper. Just took some extra time this go around
